Power company exec gets 2½ years in prison in bribery scam

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A former executive of French power and transportation company Alstom was sentenced in the U.S. on Monday to 2 ½ years in prison for bribing Indonesia officials - a scheme that was part of a worldwide bribery scandal resulting in a record $772 million fine against the company.

Frederic Pierucci, a 49-year-old French citizen, also was fined $20,000 at his sentencing in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut.

Pierucci was vice president of global sales for an Alstom subsidiary in Windsor, Connecticut, that has since been acquired by General Electric Co.

He, several other Alstom officials and an Alstom business partner were indicted on U.S. charges that they bribed several Indonesia government officials, including a member of Parliament, offering hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure a $118 million contract for a power project in Tarahan to provide electricity to citizens.

To hide the bribes, prosecutors said, the defendants hired two consultants purportedly to provide legitimate consulting services on behalf of the power company and its subsidiaries, but the consultants' primary role was to pay the bribes. The scheme ran from 2002 to 2009, officials said.

Pierucci pleaded guilty in 2013 to violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

His lawyer, former U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Stanley Twardy Jr., declined to comment Monday.

Two other Alstom executives also pleaded guilty in the case. One awaits sentencing and another died last year before sentencing. Charges remain pending against another executive. Tokyo-based Marubeni Corp., Alstom's partner in the Indonesia project, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and was fined $88 million.

The Indonesia Parliament member, Izedrik Emir Moeis, was sentenced to three years in jail in Indonesia in 2014 for accepting $357,000 in bribes for the Tarahan project.

Prosecutors say the Indonesia corruption was part of a larger, worldwide bribery scheme by Alstom that led to a $772 million fine against the company in a federal court case in Connecticut in 2015. The fine was the largest ever under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said.

Authorities said the company paid at least $75 million in bribes to government officials around the world including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Bahamas and Taiwan.

Alstom officials previously said they regretted the "problems," improved compliance practices and looked to move beyond the allegations.